Travels. Books. Explorations.
On February 20, 1943, in the central Mexican region of Michoacán, a volcano was born in a cornfield. When you visit the volcano today, it looks like most other hills—sitting quietly, acting as if it had always been there. Look closer, and you can see it’s streaked brown and black, while the rest of the …
Continue reading "Eighty Years Ago Today, A Volcano was Born…"
As I climbed three, four, five thousand feet in elevation, the new plants that grew up around me were long-lost friends I haven’t seen since last summer. This past weekend I took a long hike in the North Cascade Mountains on a trail I’d done three times before and I was reminded how there is …
On Fourth of July weekend I’m at 6,100 feet in the North Cascades Mountains. And I’ve walked back into winter. In retrospect, I knew enough that I shouldn’t have been surprised by the extent of the snowfield I encountered. I was working as a park ranger in these mountains, and have lived in landscapes and …
Continue reading "For Everything There is a Season (or Two)"
What happens when a park ranger who is used to hikes and digging into the history and geography of a place moves to New York City? The world turns upside down—and sometimes the favorite part of my day was my commute into work. Yep, I know that seems weird. Never-ending choices of how to meander …
Continue reading "My (Former) Morning Commute, A Self-Guided Walking Tour"
What does it mean to go back to a place? I’ve been back a month now from my last big international travels, a month-long trip to Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The trip was spurred by the fact I knew I needed to get the stories of African volcanoes into my current book project. It was …
Today marked my one-year anniversary of moving to New York City. “That’s quite the change!” is the normal reaction I get when I tell people this—and of course it is. I am a West Coaster through and through—born in California, raised and went to college in Washington. For the last seven years I have hopped …
Besides traveling, one of the best things for a travel writer to do is to read other writers. I love getting other authors' insights on new and familiar places, and almost always learn something new, whether it is about the place itself, or a new perspective on somewhere I am familiar with. And the best …
Reading of any type is a great way to spend part of a vacation. But when I travel or move a new place, I love grabbing travelogues, travel books, and fiction books about the specific area I’ll be exploring. I recently moved to New York City and have been devouring books related to New York …
Continue reading "Top Five Reasons to Read Travel Books When You Travel"
Volcanoes have been in the news a lot lately. There is the ongoing eruption of Kīlauea, on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. Then the news of a decapitated Roman excavated in the ruins of Pompeii, Italy. And then the heart-breaking news out of Guatemala, where the eruption of the Fuego volcano has claimed dozens, maybe …
I was again excited to be able to experience some pretty amazing places across the United States and world this year, spending time in eight states and three countries. Here are some of my favorite travel photos from my 2017 journeys! Comment on your favorites! I hope these photos remind everyone what an amazing world …
Bryanna Plog 